Alan Patricof Explained Why He Ditched His $40 Billion Fund For A $75 Million One

In 1969, Alan Patricof founded Patricof and Co., an early venture capital firm. Over the next 40 years, he turned that into Apax, one of the largest private equity firms in the world. And then he left it.

Forming a new company called Greycroft, Patricof has decided to "return" to smaller capitalization investing, i.e. investing early in startups. He believes the future for investment is in small companies that may not need a huge amount of cash to get started and get profitable.

At our IGNITION conference Patricof discussed why he left the big money for a more intimate fund: